Member Bios, June 2009 (If you are not listed here, please add your bio)
Tony Brandenburg, Australia Greetings all, My name is Tony Brandenburg and I am a new member of the international committee, invited by Helen Padgett. AT present I am based in Ballarat, Australia (near Melbourne) previous to this I was in Doha, Qatar in the Middle East. I am not sure what my next employment opportunity is, but at this stage I am working for ICTEV (an ISTE affiliate) in helping them prepare for the Australian Computers in Education Conference for April next year (a great venue for an International Committee meeting :-)) My background is in educational management with a focus on ICT. I have been a primary school principal, a secondary school teacher and a university academic, I seem to be a good planner and strategic thinker! I won't be in Washington this year, which is very disappointing, but will join you on the teleconference. (anyway 6.30 am is 8.30 pm in Oz, a far more dignified time!) There will be other Australians there as ACCE (The Australian Council for Computers in Education) has a study tour visiting washington. If you are attending NECC and you see them stop them and say Tony B said hello and they should buy you a drink! I hope my focus for the next few years can be ISTE's global outreach, developing strategies for ISTE to be recognized and be involved outside the US. It would be my belief that trying to apply the ISTE way may not be the best way from an international perspective. Anyway, look forward to talking with you all, and sooner than later, catching up with you! Congrats to Ralph on his appointment as Chair. Tony Chris Jager, New Zealand Hello fellow international committee members Firstly I am delighted to see you taking up the chair of this committee Ralph - I am looking forward to being to contribute to big steps towards making the I in ISTE stand up over the next two years! (and by the way I am loving seeing a strong "down under" representation on the committee). My name is Chris Jager and I think this makes year 5 or 6 on the international committee. I had four years as the international rep on the ISTE board prior to Ralph. Over this time I have watched ISTE working hard on its international outreach. Last year I was able to attend conferences in Dubai, SIngapore and Canberra where ISTE had a very strong presence. This was a thrill to see. A little about me:- I am a IT consultant with a New Zealand education IT consultant company that is currently servicing school improvement contracts in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Although based in Auckland, New Zealand, I have spent a big chunk of the last two years in the Middle East. Sadly I will miss NECC again this year. If only the US was on the route between my two homes - unfortunately the timing of NECC just does not fit well with my current work responsibilities. I hope the 30th NECC celebrations are magic - I am envious of those of you who will be there in person - I will be delighted to be able to participate in the meeting of the new international committee on June 30th.
Warmest best wishes to everyone Chris Julie Lindsay, Qatar/China Hello everyone from Julie Lindsay I have been a member of the International Committee for about 4 years now. I am currently in Qatar, but leave in 2 days for NECC, and by the end of July I will be China taking up a new position as Head of IT at Beijing International School (BISS). Originally from Melbourne, Australia, I have been teaching internationally for over 11 years in Zambia, Kuwait, Bangladesh and Qatar. I am the co-founder of the Flat Classroom Project, see http://flatclassroomproject.org for details about this.
Mahmud Shihab, Lebanon About me: My name is Mahmud Shihab. I am the educational technology program administrator and webmaster at International College (IC, http://www.ic.edu.lb/), Beirut, Lebanon. The nature of my work gave me the chance to work with 4 multilingual curricular tracks: the Lebanese Program (French, Arabic, and English), the French Baccalaureate Program, the American High School Program, and the International Baccalaureate Program). I teach ITGS (Information Technology in a Global Society) in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. I also teach Educational Technology courses at the American University of Beirut. I have established the IT program at International College in 1996, and I still enjoy training teachers to integrate technology in their teaching. My areas of interest include the development of dynamic and customizable global educational technology standards, flash animation, web design, blogs, wikis, and podcasts. My PhD research focused on the effect of using Web 2.0 tools in the English language classroom. I serve as an evaluator with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC, http://www.neasc.org/) on the accreditation of international schools, and I am a representative of my school at the Near-East South-Asia Council of Overseas Schools (NESA, http://www.nesacenter.org/). I am an ISTE enthusiast, and I have presented at NECC in 2005 and 2008. I am very proud to be working with you and all distinguished members of the International Committee. Best regards, Mahmud Shihab Educational Technology Program Administrator, ITGS Instructor, and Webmaster, International College. Lecturer, American University of Beirut. Tel/SMS: +9613604035 Email: simba@cyberia.net.lb mshihab@ic.edu.lb
Peter Skillen, Canada Hello all, My name is Peter Skillen and I am a new member of the international committee. I will attend the meeting at NECC. I have been involved in the teaching profession for almost 40 years and using computers for 30 of those! After having taught elementary school for 13 years, I was a Computers in Education consultant withToronto District Schools for the next 18 years. From 2000-2003 I was Lead Designer of Journal Zone - a collaborative online journal - software that was developed by LCSI - the most well-known creator of Logo. I am currently a teacher and manager at the YMCA Academy - a small independent secondary school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I've been involved with project-based telecommunications since the early 1980s and continue to explore deep applications of the latest Web 2.0 technologies. I am currently on the Board of Directors for iEARN-Canada – a network that connects youth around the world for the purpose of social action. I have also served on one of ISTE's affiliates for 30 years - the Educational Computing Organization of Ontario (www.ecoo.org). My passion for educational change is greatly influenced by observing the ways in which people learn in 'out of school' environments. Other passions include…rock-climbing, motorcycles, mountains, oceans…yes, adventures!! Congratulations Ralph, on your appointment as Chair! Sincerely, Peter http://www.peterskillen.org Claudia Uribe de Piedrahita, Colombia
About me:
A Phisical and Occupational Therapist, from Universidad Nacional de Bogotá. Started working as a teacher of the second, in the Faculty of Medial Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogota. I married and moved to Cali where I worked as a Phisical and Occupatinal Therapist in various hospitals for several years. the occupational therapist salary that I earn has allowed me to travel extensively.
We moved to Puerto Rico, and coming back to Cali, sarted with two friends a Real State Company taht worked for more than 10 years. We moved again, this time to Miami USA, where I took several pre columbian, colonial and african art courses.
We came back to Cali and I sarted a Foundation "Ayudemos" in a new and top of the line Hospital in Cali, "Clínica Valle del Lili". I brought physicians from all over the world to perform caridiology surgeries and liver transplants to extremely poor children with ve ry complex conditions. Now a days CVL has one of the best cariology and transplants units in the all country.
In 1995 the unthinkable happend and in a plane crash we lost our beloved Gabriel, the second of our three chidren, only six months away to his graduation from Harvard. This tragedy changed our lives forever. For honoring his memory and accomplish one of his main dreams: dedicating some years of his life to teaching at a school in a disadvantaged community, we sarted in 1998 the Gabriel Piedrahita-Uribe Foundation. The Foudation, based in Cali, "is a nonprofit organizationthat //promotes the improvement of primary and secondary education for disvantaged and underserved children in Colombia and spanish speaking countries, through the effective use and integration of Information and Communication Technologies in the curriculum" One of the Foundation strategies is the publication od Eduteka (www.eduteka.org), a web portal targeted to the Spanish -language educational community (Teachers, Administrators and Teacher Trainers), taht offers at no cost, a great variety of original and third-party high quality content, including up-to-date national and international articles,interviews and research studies, resources and interactive spaces. feel free to also visit the English website that explains What is occupational therapy for children.
I has been the Director of the FGPU Foundation for 11 years.
Welcome to the ISTE International Committee wikispace.
Members of the committee will use this space to collaborate on IC initiatives and issues.
For Tuesday, June 30, 2009 International Committee Meeting at NECC
ISTE International Committee Terms of Reference:
Member Bios, June 2009 (If you are not listed here, please add your bio)
Tony Brandenburg, Australia
Greetings all,
My name is Tony Brandenburg and I am a new member of the international committee, invited by Helen Padgett. AT present I am based in Ballarat, Australia (near Melbourne) previous to this I was in Doha, Qatar in the Middle East. I am not sure what my next employment opportunity is, but at this stage I am working for ICTEV (an ISTE affiliate) in helping them prepare for the Australian Computers in Education Conference for April next year (a great venue for an International Committee meeting :-)) My background is in educational management with a focus on ICT. I have been a primary school principal, a secondary school teacher and a university academic, I seem to be a good planner and strategic thinker!
I won't be in Washington this year, which is very disappointing, but will join you on the teleconference. (anyway 6.30 am is 8.30 pm in Oz, a far more dignified time!) There will be other Australians there as ACCE (The Australian Council for Computers in Education) has a study tour visiting washington. If you are attending NECC and you see them stop them and say Tony B said hello and they should buy you a drink!
I hope my focus for the next few years can be ISTE's global outreach, developing strategies for ISTE to be recognized and be involved outside the US. It would be my belief that trying to apply the ISTE way may not be the best way from an international perspective.
Anyway, look forward to talking with you all, and sooner than later, catching up with you!
Congrats to Ralph on his appointment as Chair.
Tony
Chris Jager, New Zealand
Hello fellow international committee members
Firstly I am delighted to see you taking up the chair of this committee Ralph - I am looking forward to being to contribute to big steps towards making the I in ISTE stand up over the next two years! (and by the way I am loving seeing a strong "down under" representation on the committee).
My name is Chris Jager and I think this makes year 5 or 6 on the international committee. I had four years as the international rep on the ISTE board prior to Ralph. Over this time I have watched ISTE working hard on its international outreach. Last year I was able to attend conferences in Dubai, SIngapore and Canberra where ISTE had a very strong presence. This was a thrill to see.
A little about me:- I am a IT consultant with a New Zealand education IT consultant company that is currently servicing school improvement contracts in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Although based in Auckland, New Zealand, I have spent a big chunk of the last two years in the Middle East. Sadly I will miss NECC again this year. If only the US was on the route between my two homes - unfortunately the timing of NECC just does not fit well with my current work responsibilities. I hope the 30th NECC celebrations are magic - I am envious of those of you who will be there in person - I will be delighted to be able to participate in the meeting of the new international committee on June 30th.
Warmest best wishes to everyone
Chris
Julie Lindsay, Qatar/China
Hello everyone from Julie Lindsay
I have been a member of the International Committee for about 4 years now. I am currently in Qatar, but leave in 2 days for NECC, and by the end of July I will be China taking up a new position as Head of IT at Beijing International School (BISS).
Originally from Melbourne, Australia, I have been teaching internationally for over 11 years in Zambia, Kuwait, Bangladesh and Qatar.
I am the co-founder of the Flat Classroom Project, see http://flatclassroomproject.org for details about this.
I would also like to thank Camilla for her dedicated work as leader of the IC, and welcome Ralph as the new leader. I also welcome new members this year and look forward to meeting you in person or virtually next week.
_
"Creating the Future"
Julie Lindsay
Head of Information Technology and E-Learning
Qatar Academy, Doha
lindsay.julie@gmail.com
Twitter/Skype/Delicious: julielindsay
Blog: http://123elearning.blogspot.com
Wiki: http://julielindsay.wikispaces.com
http://www.retaggr.com/Card/julielindsay
Mahmud Shihab, Lebanon
About me:
My name is Mahmud Shihab. I am the educational technology program administrator and webmaster at International College (IC, http://www.ic.edu.lb/), Beirut, Lebanon. The nature of my work gave me the chance to work with 4 multilingual curricular tracks: the Lebanese Program (French, Arabic, and English), the French Baccalaureate Program, the American High School Program, and the International Baccalaureate Program). I teach ITGS (Information Technology in a Global Society) in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. I also teach Educational Technology courses at the American University of Beirut. I have established the IT program at International College in 1996, and I still enjoy training teachers to integrate technology in their teaching. My areas of interest include the development of dynamic and customizable global educational technology standards, flash animation, web design, blogs, wikis, and podcasts. My PhD research focused on the effect of using Web 2.0 tools in the English language classroom.
I serve as an evaluator with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC, http://www.neasc.org/) on the accreditation of international schools, and I am a representative of my school at the Near-East South-Asia Council of Overseas Schools (NESA, http://www.nesacenter.org/).
I am an ISTE enthusiast, and I have presented at NECC in 2005 and 2008. I am very proud to be working with you and all distinguished members of the International Committee.
Best regards,
Mahmud Shihab
Educational Technology Program Administrator,
ITGS Instructor, and Webmaster, International College.
Lecturer, American University of Beirut.
Tel/SMS: +9613604035
Email: simba@cyberia.net.lb
mshihab@ic.edu.lb
Peter Skillen, Canada
Hello all,
My name is Peter Skillen and I am a new member of the international committee. I will attend the meeting at NECC.
I have been involved in the teaching profession for almost 40 years and using computers for 30 of those! After having taught elementary school for 13 years, I was a Computers in Education consultant withToronto District Schools for the next 18 years. From 2000-2003 I was Lead Designer of Journal Zone - a collaborative online journal - software that was developed by LCSI - the most well-known creator of Logo.
I am currently a teacher and manager at the YMCA Academy - a small independent secondary school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
I've been involved with project-based telecommunications since the early 1980s and continue to explore deep applications of the latest Web 2.0 technologies. I am currently on the Board of Directors for iEARN-Canada – a network that connects youth around the world for the purpose of social action. I have also served on one of ISTE's affiliates for 30 years - the Educational Computing Organization of Ontario (www.ecoo.org).
My passion for educational change is greatly influenced by observing the ways in which people learn in 'out of school' environments.
Other passions include…rock-climbing, motorcycles, mountains, oceans…yes, adventures!!
Congratulations Ralph, on your appointment as Chair!
Sincerely,
Peter
http://www.peterskillen.org
Claudia Uribe de Piedrahita, Colombia
About me:
A Phisical and Occupational Therapist, from Universidad Nacional de Bogotá. Started working as a teacher of the second, in the Faculty of Medial Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogota.
I married and moved to Cali where I worked as a Phisical and Occupatinal Therapist in various hospitals for several years. the occupational therapist salary that I earn has allowed me to travel extensively.
We moved to Puerto Rico, and coming back to Cali, sarted with two friends a Real State Company taht worked for more than 10 years.
We moved again, this time to Miami USA, where I took several pre columbian, colonial and african art courses.
We came back to Cali and I sarted a Foundation "Ayudemos" in a new and top of the line Hospital in Cali, "Clínica Valle del Lili". I brought physicians from all over the world to perform caridiology surgeries and liver transplants to extremely poor children with ve ry complex conditions. Now a days CVL has one of the best cariology and transplants units in the all country.
In 1995 the unthinkable happend and in a plane crash we lost our beloved Gabriel, the second of our three chidren, only six months away to his graduation from Harvard. This tragedy changed our lives forever. For honoring his memory and accomplish one of his main dreams: dedicating some years of his life to teaching at a school in a disadvantaged community, we sarted in 1998 the Gabriel Piedrahita-Uribe Foundation.
The Foudation, based in Cali, "is a nonprofit organizationthat //promotes the improvement of primary and secondary education for disvantaged and underserved children in Colombia and spanish speaking countries, through the effective use and integration of Information and Communication Technologies in the curriculum"
One of the Foundation strategies is the publication od Eduteka (www.eduteka.org), a web portal targeted to the Spanish -language educational community (Teachers, Administrators and Teacher Trainers), taht offers at no cost, a great variety of original and third-party high quality content, including up-to-date national and international articles,interviews and research studies, resources and interactive spaces. feel free to also visit the English website that explains What is occupational therapy for children.
I has been the Director of the FGPU Foundation for 11 years.
Hope is not to long, see you at NECC
Best
Claudia